lisiamc

If you’re willing, I would like to meet up, since I’ve “seen” you on Cruise Critic for years. If you email lmzaffiro at gmail dot com, would you like to say where you have a drink before dinner on this cruise? We are normally at the Atlas Bar from 7pm, but also in the Living Room to get our backsides kicked at afternoon trivia from 4 pm.

I’m sure she will be back (I hope so!) but also sure she would have welcomed the chance to spend Christmas with her family. She had been on since Onward’s Inaugural cruise, as far as I know,

I have heard from someone who uses his computer for work whilst cruising that the Starlink coverage can be a pit patchy in this part of the world. When the internet is working, it is excellent, but it does drop off sometimes. Even so, it is a HUGE improvement over what we had on the transatlantic in November.

I’m sure it isn’t easy to magic up a piano player at short notice! There have been sterling efforts to provide nightly entertainment in The Den by Cruise Director Martin, Band Leader Tina, Guest Entertainer Doug Cameron and family, and Hotel Director Tony and his wife Christine. We have probably spent more time in The Den enjoying these performers than we have ever spent there on any other cruise.

Yes, it seems to be a bit fragile at the moment. I had pretty good luck with it for a while yesterday afternoon - enough to do my Duolingo, anyway! I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they’re awaiting delivery of a replacement part or something.

Also adding that I tried a glass (or two!) of the Azamara Sauvignon Blanc and it was very acceptable. I liked the Bayten better, but the Azamara included choice was decent. Sadly the (included) Teller Syrah seems to have gone.

We did a Northern Lights cruise, and can recommend everything mentioned here. I would add wind-proof trousers as a top layer when tromping around an exposed and windy deck, admiring the Northern Lights, and further recommend gloves AND mittens, or shooter’s mittens, where the mitten part can fold back and expose finger-less gloves for using a camera. I also wore a scarf wrapped around my lower face, topped by a woolly hat, topped by the hood of my jacket. Those hygge-type ear/head scarves are very useful too.

We’ve found a selection of favourites with the Ultimate package wines on Onward, and supply issues are gradually smoothing out, so the choices are fairly steady. The supply of Slimline tonic remains slightly erratic.

For those who wonder about such things, I am delighted to report that there are lobster tails on the dinner menu tonight, as well as some other nice things for Christmas!

Patience, Grasshopper! 😄 I am now a believer in the IT upgrade process. They will/should catch up with themselves in a couple of months.

Onward may not be last for the guest internet upgrade! This was the Speedtest today. This is better than we have at home. I’m really pleased to see this!

There are definitely key card wallets as @marinaro44says.

They can’t open the casino in port, and when the ship sails, there’s some distance the ship is supposed to be from the port before it’s ok to open the shops and the casino. With Azamara staying overnight in some ports, and quite late in others, it cuts way down on the time the casino could be open. I much a prefer a ship without a casino anyway.

That’s good news! (How’d you get your sea pass already? Are you on a pre-cruise extension?)

I’m not Roel94, but I take it to mean ‘“Pad out” must be British, as he added four songs.’ I often get a similar result from my phone! 😁

That would be a great idea if Azamara did that too!

If it’s Christmas, you could go for a walk around town, or just declare an honorary sea day.

That’s a relief, then. The Starlink idea could be a good one.

I truly hope that isn’t the case! Royal Caribbean has been doing an absolutely rubbish job of handling IT for Azamara for more than a decade. They’re worse than ever since the sale, even though they agreed to handle things through the transition.

Tony Markey, the Hotel Director on Onward.

It’s not that they don’t provide the tote bags any more. It’s that they have not been delivered to (at least) Onward. I can’t speak for the other ships. I believe they are in stock on at least some of the ships.

I think this is spot on. Time have changed, things are not as they used to be, and it is a great idea to enjoy the good things and not worry about the minor downsides. I am sure that I come across as an Azamara loyalist, or a “cheerleader”. That’s fair enough, because I am one. In March 2020, when the world was closing so many things down, Azamara took us safely from the very tip of South America back to Miami, and then chartered a plane to get all the Brits and Europeans back home, for free. They did amazing things for us in very difficult circumstances. We got home safely, and we had the best cruise ever while we were getting there. So if I don’t get a tote bag, or they run short of my favourite booze, or my balcony chair is not ideal, I’m going to try my best to be patient until it all gets sorted out. Azamara are still very much in credit as far as I am concerned, and a bit of patience costs me nothing.

The only reason I wouldn’t book a speciality restaurant on the first night is if the regular restaurant is offering Prime Rib, a particular favourite of mine. Otherwise, the first night is often a good choice for speciality dining.

To be completely accurate, 1596 days in my streak as of today, although I’ve been doing Duolingo for 7 years altogether. I would say that I speak dreadful Italian for someone who’s been learning for so long. I am frequently surprised by how often I make the Italians laugh. I once tried to say that I was looking for lard in the supermarket, and said that I’m looking for an ostrich instead! I did get the lard (strutto), but not the ostrich (struzzo), thankfully. One of my better phrases, useful for scam phone calls, is “I was born at night, but not last night.” 😁 I have no knack for languages, sadly. I took French for years in school, and can order a sandwich, and ask for the Ladies Room, but other than that… not so much. I can read enough Spanish to get into trouble, but not enough to get out again!

On the Onward Maiden Voyage, I managed to get my sticky mitts on a fair bit of Perrier-Jouët Champagne, which I enjoyed very much, which was not specifically advertised and definitely NOT in the Ultimate Package. Should I have gone to Guest Relations and insisted on paying a bit extra?? I confess that I did not.😉